Daily Dose: Rise in Diabetes-Related Vascular Deaths Linked to Renal Complications

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On May 16, 2023, we reported on findings from a study presented at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology (AACE) 2023 Annual Scientific and Clinical Conference that examined trends of diabetic vascular complications-related deaths in the US.

The study

Researchers obtained 20 years of diabetes mortality data for US adults aged ≥18 years from the National Vital Statistics System, cause-of-death files for 2001-2020 using the International Classification of Diseases, and 10th revision codes to identify all diabetes mortality and vascular complications.

Vascular complications included nephropathy, retinopathy, neuropathy and peripheral circulatory. Age-adjusted mortality rates were calculated for each complication for every year. Investigators also conducted trend analysis with annual average percentage change (AAPC) of rates by joinpoint regression to examine the overall trend of vascular complication-related deaths.

The findings

From 2001 to 2020, there were 4 957 211 diabetes-related deaths in the US, of which 16.1% (n=798 295) were attributed to vascular-related complications of organs:

• Kidney: 65.3% (n=520 934)

• Peripheral circulatory: 30.9% (n=246 554)

• Nervous system: 3.6% (n=28 679)

• Eyes: 0.3% (n=2128)

Researchers noted that, overall, the age-adjusted rate of vascular complications-related mortality was 1257 per 10 000 during the 20-year study period. The overall age-adjusted mortality rate attributable to vascular complications increased from 2001 to 2020 (AAPC=6.8% [3.8% — 9.8%; P<.0001]). A significant increase in renal complications drove these increases.

Results also demonstrated that peripheral circulatory complications had a statistical decrease of 3.1% during the 20-year study period, while eye and nerve complications showed no significant change.

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